Leafs Postgame: Flames’ B-Team beats Marlies’ B-Team

Think of the Leafs at the start of the season. A roster set up to fail, am I right? Okay, now place Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk on the IR. Oh, and keep Shawn Matthias out of the lineup with a less severe injury as well. Also, give Tyler Bozak an illness. Maybe, just maybe, trade Dion Phaneuf as well. That gives you a pretty barebones Wednesday lineup, but hey, at least the Flames will be exciting!

Wait, they put their worst goalie in net? Oh, and they scratched three key players because they were presumably, uhh, “not feeling great” the morning after watching the Super Bowl? This game has “least entertaining of the season” written all over it.

Did it ever live up to that hype, as both teams stumbled towards the finish line until the Flames skated away victorious, outscoring the Leafs 4-3 after sixty dreadful minutes.

After Matt “only player still on either team from the first Phaneuf trade” Stajan headed to the penalty box midway through the first period, it seemed like the Leafs had the chance to take the lead. Of course, that wasn’t the case. The Flames picked up a shorthanded tally forty seconds into Toronto’s man-advantage, as Markus Granlund temporarily convinced the world that he was as good as his brother by rushing up for a breakaway and chipping the puck past James Reimer.

That’s not to say that the Leafs didn’t convert of the powerplay, though; Peter Holland tied the game back up with an admittedly pretty deflection a few seconds later. Not to be outdone, Mikael Backlund responded with a powerplay deflection of his own with two minutes to go in the period, putting the Flames back up. They carried the momentum into the second, shocking the world by putting Michael Ferland into successful scoring position, only to top that by having a second Dougie Hamilton shot beat Reimer; this time, without a deflection.

If there was a goal that made you genuinely happy to see today, it was probably Josh Leivo’s. It was a gorgeous shot that looked much like the rockets that he’s been firing home with the Toronto Marlies down the stretch, and it also gave Rich Clune a point that, as a childhood Leafs fan, he had waited his entire life to pick up. Jake Gardiner’s goal that followed, however, was a bit more concerning; as nice as it is to see the young defender go for a skate and take a solid shot on net, there’s no denying that the only reason it went in was because of Jonas Hiller’s less-than-stellar goaltending.

To the relief of those watching the standings, those two goals were the closest that the team would get to closing the game back up. Even with increasing pressure, Hiller managed to keep his half-team afloat to send Toronto’s half-team packing.

Clune, Leivo, and Holland weren’t the only local boys to step up tonight. Frank Corrado, who started off the season in relative exile, made the most of his 16:21 of ice time taking three shots on goal, throwing two hits, leading the team in shot-attempt percentage (80%, on the ice for 20 attempts for and 5 against), and perhaps most importantly, tripling his full-season production with a pair of assists. He’ll need more games like this to hold onto a roster spot until more trades happen, and if he can earn it through merit rather than elimination, it’ll be a huge step for the 22-year-old.

The Leafs have two more games to play in their west-coast tour of similarly dreadful teams. The next of those comes tomorrow night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers. The team features 2022 Unrestricted Free Agent Connor McDavid, so keep your eyes peeled! Puck drop is at 9:00 PM. You know, if you dare to watch again.